Why dry air is not good for you – whether you’re up in the air or down on the ground

left wing of an aircraft in the sky with turbine and two elegant humidfiers against the left marginWhen was the last time you boarded a plane? Do you recall experiencing any uncomfortable side effects during or after a long-distance flight? No, nothing dramatic like a sudden bout of amnesia and being blissfully unaware of who you are. Or a panic attack because you were strangely unable to peel off your graduated compression stockings. No, something less disturbing and something more familiar like a sore throat perhaps, a stuffy nose, dry, irritated, eyes and itchy skin or raw, red knuckles and chapped lips and hands?

If you have been a passenger on a transcontinental flight and you have experienced one, or two – or if you have been especially unlucky even all six of these symptoms –  then the chances are that you were suffering from the effects caused by low levels of humidity in the cabin of the aircraft that you were flying with.

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